I have been an audio enthusiast for over fifty years, and this is the BEST instructional video for turntable set up I have ever seen. I am going to re set up my turntable again right now. God bless this man for caring about what he dose to benefit all of us. Thank you sir.
@@rabarebra Hi there, just an expression of my appreciation, thats all. Hope I haven't offended you; certainly is not my intention. I also may have miss interpreted your comment, in that case LOL!😁 have a great day, stay healthy and happy.
I want to know why these under-arm counterweights are supposed to be better by keeping the centre of mass below the arm? they are sold as 'upgrades' on ebay.
@Cornelius Agrippa I am not sure what this "upgrade" is, so I am skeptical. I have had great results with turntables as they come from manufacture by just checking the alignment and tracking force, etc. In my opinion, I don't need to sink money into more upgrades when my system sings beautifully as it is.
I have the highest respect for a man who advises me to crack open a beer before getting down to the tedious task of aligning a cartridge. Very informative video. Highly appreciated!
A beer is better because you don't want doobie ashes on your Doobie Brothers LPs but you need to be calm and focused for the cartridge surgery. #trustaboomer #justkiddingimgenX #thosearentreal#s
If you opened beers, you might get confused somewhere during this process and stick the cartridge up your ass instead. So, just go with a heavy mug of coffee. Ya need to be alert and not be compromised on finger dexterity.
Love this guy! RU-vid has become so commercialized! This guy is just a Vinyl loving sensei who wants to share his love with the world. No hidden agendas! Keep it up man!
i think you must search for help in other place or you´ll never have your turntable correctelly set up,that´s why i never called my self a audiophile but a hi-fi enthusiast, audiophiles can be ....whatever, not good in the pictuire ,not having anything against you, we never met but some are really assholes soiled and everything"the SL-1200 never was ment to be a professional turntable but a audiophile turntable" as an example i only asked him "to whom are their good turntables?"than "check the technics 72 catalog" when audiophiles till 2010 said to be a working horse the SL-1200
@@sharniff5892 yes, young people these days are spoiled and aren't disciplined enough to sit still and watch a video through fully. A pathetic and weak generation, indeed.
Like many here, I had to retire to find the time to set up my record player properly. I gave my 1000 record collection to my daughter years ago and bought her a cheap turntable combo to play them on. It was great as she started listening and loving the same vinyl music I did decades earlier. Then I started listening to them and the sound blew me away -even on the cheap thing I bought for her. Years later here I am, browsing 2nd hand shops for records and playing them on a vintage LXI direct drive turntable I just upgraded the cartridge on, slowly building another collection (no, I never asked for them back), finally setting it up properly. Thx for your clear direction on this. It was a big help.
Thank you so much for making this video. You are an amazing instructor when it comes to learning about Turntables. My Dad recently passed and left me about 400 vinyl from 1962-1986. Liquid gold.
You are blessed. Many hours of memories and love await you. I have a similar journey to embark with several boxes of 1935 to 1950 Jazz and Classical from my Dad. 😊♥️
This is one of the most complete and helpful tutorials I have found on this topic. I have been listening to vinyl for 40+ years and this is the first time I have actually seen something that explains all these things in plain English. I love the fact that you’re doing this in the corner of your workshop dedicated to brewing beer. These are all signs of a true renaissance man in this day and age. Thanks for making my life 2% happier!
I happen to have the very same turntable, so that helps a lot, but I have to say that your video is the best I have seen. At 86, I am retired from the record business as a producer (Riverside, Columbia, Prestige) but I wish I had known what you teach with such clarity. Better late than never! Thank you, I will subscribe.
Oh my gosh! I am familiar with your work! It is incredible how small the internet makes the world. Your contributions to jazz music are appreciated. I am so glad that I came across you here!
Thank you for taking the time to teach the intricacies of turntable cartridge alignment and tonearm setup in such great detail. Your patience and expertise made the learning process not only enlightening but truly enjoyable. There is no better video on the subject than this one.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. I just bought my first turntable. I bought a Fluance RT85. I had to make changes to everything just a bit in most cases, but the first record I put on had wonderful imaging and sound without a hint of distortion. I was able to follow your guide easily and accurately. Thank you for helping take the fear out of setting up my first turntable! It was fun and sounds AMAZING!
I have been an audiophille for a good time now. This guy explains it all so well and with so much honesty and passion. This is indeed the best instructional videos I have ever seen. There is so much to learn from you. Patience and focus is key. Thanks man. Keep up the good work. Cheers !
I'm finally getting around to setting this turntable up, which I acquired a few years ago. This is one of the best instructional videos on RU-vid. It's clear, precise, well shot...no superfluous nonsense, no insipid background music, but everything you need to know to set this up properly. Thanks so much.
Wow, that was a learning...I'm 54 years old, so grew up with record players, but have never had anyone explain all these things in such depth...thank you! I have subscribed!
Don’t forget about the unnecessary expense, the shitty sound quality, and the carcinogenic toxicity of polyvinyl chloride. Other than that, it’s the future of music.
Sometimes We have to stay with Technology That Works For Us Even If It"s From the 19th Century!!!! The Record Has The best Sound Quality Around,,100% of the Music is Transfered Into The grooves with no analog to digital or digital to analog conversion (which can affect Audio Quality)
This is by far one of the best instructional videos on turntable setup I have come across. I am a beginner in vinyl and was really worried about all the setup. This person really breaks it down in very easy steps. I wish all the best for you and your vinyl love!
This reminds me of the Joe Walsh video for setting up a Les Paul guitar. It’s so generous to take the time to teach those who want and need to learn this stuff. It’s generational too!
Thanks dude! I followed your recommendations, printed the rulers on an A4 page, and I got the pain in the ass. My cartridge was never aligned, and was WAY off, even skew to the outside. It took me like an hour and a half to align it, specially the inner section, but I made the cartridge rock-steady once it was. Not a thing I would want to do every day, but It took off. At first I got a nicer warmy and detailed sound from my usual records. But incredibly I was blown away by this Carly Rae Jepsen vinyl from my daughter collection. Not my cup of tea but the calibration made it. I was on another insane sonic level. My Technica got revamped!.
I have followed this tutorial for years now. Since I do not need to change carts often, but every few years I do, and this is a video I have saved and always go back to. It has helped all the carts I have bought be the best they can, and sound. I want to say thank you for this video that is easy to follow, understand for everyone, and making it not about you need this, or that you need to get something expensive to get the job done. The only thing I would say you should buy is the digital scale, just like in the video. This could be bought in a kit for $25 (scale, alignment protractor, scale gauge block). Very happy that this video has been seen as much as it has. It shows how many people appreciate the video, and how many people have gotten into vinyl records/turntables.
usually when i need a new cartridge,i buy it already all hooked up on the Headshell,and that is the first thing i check,out of the box.and YES.its usually perfecto
Thanks so much for this; it is super helpful! I grew up with vinyl, but went the route of CD when it came out, and now digital, but to my ears, nothing beats the warmth and beauty of a record on a good system.
Absolutely fantastic and helpful video. Can’t appreciate it enough. Very clear and concise, calmly spoken but also with enough detail to make things make sense. Thank you! Subbed
Well done. I've been looking for this information for a couple of months. This is the first tutorial I've found that helped me say "Oh, hey, I can do that right now!" A clear, well presented walk-through that didn't make me feel like I needed to get a Bachelor's in engineering first to set up my turntable rig and gave me confidence that it was technical and important, but that it wasn't rocket science either. Now I think that I've got it dialed in and can feel more confident about playing and ripping my records. Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic video!! Just installed a new Goldring E3 cartridge on my AT LP5 Turntable. Did not even know about the need to do all of these things before playing a record. Will be up a few hours this evening. Thank you for spending your time to teach us novices! 😊
@@rajeshkansara4505 it´s easy and fast to do, the only thing ,i think it was left out is when having the optimal weight on the stylus as it´s specifications allow if the anti-skating is the same as the weight but some songs in the end if the record are still not good as the ones in the beggining just had a bit on the anti-skating till they sound all the same(Perfect),normally analog instrumentrs on early cd years the sound is very bad compared to the vinil version ,if not something is wrong on the turntable ,i´ve tried several cartridges and stylus till 400€´s which in my opinion is already a lot of money ,they do normally sound worse than the stylus that came originally with the turntable, also i have to say that in the 80´s some of mine cartridges, refering to their stylus had not already being produced by the brand but at the time substitution needles were well built ,today they are very bad ,i worked in a laboratorium and i can still use the magnifying lenses to watch how they were assembled ,you can see the tip with a 30 cm´s measure and watch all work done ,i bought two for about 30 to 40€ and they are just garbage ,not a problem of the cartridge or the turntable itself but the badly built substitution needles, there are still well built ones but one needs to do a research , and make question about them to it´s seller ,regards
I'm looking at returning to vinyl. So, busy looking at turntables and what's involved plus trying to educate myself on setting one up. THIS is exactly what the doctor ordered...clear, concise and informative. Thank you!
This is amazing. I cannot get over how you made EVERYTHING so understandable to someone like I - the type who barely knows how to turn the darn thing on. Great tutorial!
This is unbelievably phenomenal. Now I need this for my DUAL CS 508, BUT, I am sending the link to a few folk who probably have no interest in doing this and may not even have a turntable for all I know. I know they will enjoy your presentation so much. Your presentation is so clear, presented with so much care that every detail is digestible and with respect and affection for your audience. You care that anyone viewing this will fully understand every nuance of the job. I wish everyone I was trying to learn something from had been as clear, concise and careful when they were passing info to me. I am a 74 year old with lifelong ADD. You made it not only easy to understand but I know, with your gracious help, I will actually enjoy the job. Thank you sir!
Hi, this is truly the best video I've ever seen to explain the turntable adjustments, from its importance to finally how to do it. I really thank you for taking the time and effort to bring such high-quality information to all people across the internet. Pretty straightforward and carefully bringing our attention to what matters the most. Awesome work in here, I'll surely check the other videos later on.
This is still teaching folks like me how to do it. Thank you! Went through several videos and the instructions that came with my table without having an explanation that made any sense as to how to set the tracking force on the tonearm.
This is fantastic, you’ve got a great knack for teaching. Thank you so much. Just getting back into the vinyl hobby for the first time since I was a teenager, and quickly realizing that there is so much I don’t know. Best 25-minute investment I could’ve possibly made. Can’t wait to check out your other videos. Instant subscriber
Thank you! I’ve had my turntable for a year and half and my new Edifier speakers my husband gave me as a gift as I have a novice interest in Vinyl again. Back to my music roots. I have not been able to enjoy any of my vinyl until I followed each of your steps in this video! This happens to be the turntable I have; a HUGE thank you!!! 🎼💜💙🥰
Greetings from the Czech Republic. Just bought my first turntable - a vintage Philips - in 17 years. This video of yours is the simplest - and therefore the most helpful - instructions I have found on how I must set up my machine. Thank you. Subscribed.
I just moved my turntables to another room and came back after years to calibrate my cartridges again :) thank you for being on youtube all this years my friend. Cheers
I finally decided to start my own vinyl collection. Im buying my first turntable this week and also picking up a few albums. Great video, very helpful.
Outstanding. What a nice guy. I've never set a turntable up and it seemed like a dark art. Having seen this very clear tutorial, I'm pretty confident I can do this! Thanks a million.
Great video and really helpful advice too. Got myself an AT-LP5x recently and thought it was set up okay. Then I watched this video and, within minutes, had learned so much. Made a few adjustments, checked the level on the surface, and now the whole set up plays better and sounds great. Thank you! I hope you are keeping safe and well. D
I have just bought a AT LP120 and I found this video really helpful, thanks for posted it, I will follow this process in order to get the best sound from my turntable!!
Thank you for this. I've been collecting vinyl for years but only recently invested in higher quality table & amp. You explained this so clearly and with no pretense which I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Thanks a lot man!!! Lucky we have people like you that would spend a lot of time to explain the best possible way. That's passion, that's positive vibes
I just got my first turntable in about 30 years. Lol. Bought the AT LP3. I subscribed to your channel and so glad I did. You're helping me out tremendously!! Thank you. Hope you're still making helpful videos.
This a masterclass of how to set up your turntable. I got a new turntable and I was thinking that the set up of it was easy. Thanks for taking the time to explain all in detail!
Thanks, great tutorial, I'm 54years old and have a hitachi 350 direct drive since 1978...!! and have never understood about these on my deck until now... Cheers, Rush archives is calling..... 😃👍🏼
Excellent tutorial. Best I've found to date on RU-vid. Well, it'll remain the best because there's no need to look elsewhere now. I've DJ'ed (80's - to early noughties) and had a couple of SL1210 MK2's and my set up throughout the decades was a best guess. Info like this just wasn't readily available back in the day. I since sold my decks (5 - 6 years ago) but because I still have a shed load of vinyl I want to sell on, I need to invest in a sturdy, quality piece of kit in order to test my records before I flog them. I came here for reviews and stumbled across this video and have got to say, that even with my own 30+ years of vinyl/audio experience, this is the best piece of audiophile education I've ever received. You have a talent for this kind of thing, Sir. Thank you!
I'm in a similar situation and couldn't find the coin for a new pair of Technics, they're pricey. I did research and settled on a pair of Pioneer PLX 1000s with the Ortophon Club mkIIs and I'm beyond happy with my purchase. Ive dusted off all my old vinyl and my collection is growing every week. Good luck my friend 👊🏻
I got about half way through the video and I thought...WOW! This guy makes sense! I understand your explanations and logic. You present it in a very trusting way to. I immediately subscribed to your channel and I have never subscribed to a channel before. I look forward to watching more of your videos.
Really helpful, 62 years old and now have a turntable that needs setting up - not like the old philips thing I had as a kid that I had to run through an old wooden radio to get any sound. Thank you for your great explanation.
thank you sir. I'm newish to vinyl( born in 1980) I have an old technics turntable that I used quite a bit back in the early 00's. it's been in its box for about 15 years and I just brought it back to life today. I never checked for any of these things( I didn't know I had to) I cant wait to tune everything in and see the difference. thanks again my man
Awesome video! I've just unpacked my turntable that's been boxed up for the last 30 years. Looking forward to going over it and resetting it as you've described -- very well! Thanks!!
Having just jumped into the big leagues I just scored an SL-1200M3D today and was terrified to set it up. Wanting to always know the "why" this was probably the most comprehensive video I have found that explained everything perfectly and answered all my questions along the way. I am typing this as I enjoy my first LP on this machine after completing your setup and it sounds fantastic and also feel I learned a lot in 25min. Straight to the point and very effective, well done sir!
Not necessarily a great idea. Tracking weight varies with the angle of the tone arm, so a scale will only give you an accurate weight when the height of the scale matches the height that your record will be. Most scales are too thick to give an accurate measurement, which is why these stylus scales exist; note how thin they are
That’s very informative. I had forgotten how to properly do this. Upgrade my cartridge and it sounds amazing now. No more distortion. Just good clear music 🙂
I thought I had my balance right but then bought one of those little scales on amazon. It helped! Got rid of my distortion and now it's not pressing down as much. Thank you sir!
I'm so happy! I've never felt right with my vinyl setup after I got into listening digitally a couple of years back. I have fairly good equipment as well, so was a huge bummer. But today, I powered through the setup and it sounds amazing! I might start collecting vinyl again as well!
52 Years old, just got back into vinyl and this is a whole lot more than I ever knew as a kid 😁 Thank you for the very informative set up procedure! Got the same turntable as you. Had no idea about setting the tracking and all that. Incidentlaly, I STILL have, in my attic, a Technics linear tracking turntable. Been up there for decades. No idea if it still works
That's a really great cartridge setup video! Just a couple of things: To attach the wires to the cartridge wiring pins, it really helps to have a good pair of needle nosed pliers, thin ones. On some cartridges there is one last adjustment that should not be forgotten - the height of the tonearm is also important, so that the vertical angle that the stylus sits in the groove is also correct; this is called vertical tracking angle. For anti-skating, the best explanation I have ever seen are by Peter Ledermann, the creator of Soundsmith cartridges. It's actually simple to do.
I just received this info with open arms since I am on the search of my first TT and didn't know all these tips and logistics regarding the works and laws of vinyl players. Simple, clear, and understandable concepts and instructions for anyone to learn. Love this man for spreading his knowledge to the service of the world. Thank you very much , Sir!
Skating "force" is a vector pulling the tonearm toward the center post, caused by friction between the stylus and record groove when the platter is in clockwise rotation. This friction generally increases with stylus pressure, which is why the anti-skating torque is calibrated to vary with the tracking force. Stylus drag from friction also varies a bit with the frequencies, amplitude, stereophonic channel separation & phasing of the audio signals recorded in the groove, the effectiveness of any applied groove lubricants, and turntable speed. Most turntables are not designed to compensate for these factors, and are probably optimized for 33 RPM or some arbitrary speed between 33 and 45.
Needed to fill the space created when I sold my CD jukebox, so decided to get a record player again and revive my vinyl collection. Had only ever had cheaper ‘music centre’ kit (and hand-me-down radiograms before that as a kid), but with turntables so affordable now, I got a new one for Christmas and combined it with a cheap second hand (but quality brand) amp. Had nothing but trouble playing records until I found this video. I always assumed the various adjustment bits on turntables were just BS designed to make them look ‘flash’ as my records always played fine on the other record players that I had didn’t have them, but clearly they do make a difference. I followed these instructions, including the protractor alignment, which was massively out on my turntable and hey presto, no problems and my music sounds great. Thank you very much.
I learned a lot. Always wondered how this was done. Thank you. Brought me back to childhood days taping pennies on the tone arm head to keep records from skipping! Noticed your tone arm base has a height adjustment but no mention of how to set that parameter.
This is the most informative video for beginners I’ve found. I watched it all the way through and was engaged. Your enthusiasm comes through. Thank you, sir.
I'm 66 years old and have just now learned how to setup my turntable. Just wondering how bad the sound was when I was younger. Did it matter or was I high? Now I need to go put on my magnifiers and just go do it. Thanks.
Great video! Another adjustment that is described in the manual for my Technics TT is the distance between the stylus tip and the mounting flange of the headshell, which for me is 52mm. I suppose that the protractor would eventually get you to the right place, but I think setting the measurement first makes it easier. I also have the HiFi News test record to help with setting the anti skate.
Turntableneedles.com has an overhang gauge which is just what you need. I can't use it because I have a straight tone arm but for the S shaped arms it will save you a lot of time and work. As of this date (Nov 2020) they are selling it for $11.
This is absolutely the most clear and step-by-step instructions on a turn table I found. Even a dummy like me can have my records sounding great and running properly. Thanks
This afternoon Amazon delivered my first record player since I was 6 years old and spinning Disney albums. It's an Audio-Technica LP120XUSB like the one shown in the video. I followed the "instructions" (more like Ikea level drawings), hooked it up to my Onkyo recover and let her spin. And it sounded...like total garbage! My left speaker sounded so distorted the first thing I did was make sure I hadn't accidently loosened the wire during setup. But the speaker sounded fine with every other device. I was so discouraged. I was sure I had wasted money because obviously this just wasn't going to work with my system. I had to walk away and take a nap. When I felt better, I sat down and started doing some research. This was the 3rd video I watched and when I heard him talk about how poor calibration can actually cause distortion out of one side and not the other, the light came on. I went back through the setup instructions, this time following him. Guess what? My player sounds amazing! I'm so happy, it's what I dreamed it would be. I was ready to through this thing away. Don't give up. I'm a total analog nube and sure I have tons to learn, but at least now I can start the journey. Thank you for this video.
Another important adjustment is the tonearm should be parallel with the platter with the stylus on the vinyl, too low at the pivot end and you'll have a slightly muddy bass sound.
I enjoy your style of teaching technical things! I enjoy your clear and concise plain English! The tone, the speed of your presentation, the relaxing mode of this video, every aspect is excellent! I have been a teacher, an experimental physicist and a laboratory veteran. I know what is the best style of teaching.
Sir I want to thank you, I wanted to get into vinyl and turntables for so long now. Now I've finally got the funds and I don't want to ruin my equipment/vinyl. So thanks for your detailed explanation (which by the way wasn't "worth 2 cents" as it helped me a great deal). Thanks again, I'm gonna subscribe!
